Heecules mccobd



H. 'MOGORD (No Model.)

BANJO.

10.296,596. lPatfantedApr. 8,1884..

N. PETERS. Phamumugmphnr. wasningion. D. C.

UNITEDv STATES PATENT OEEICE.

HERCULES M CCORD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,596, dated April 8, 1884.

. Application filed May 19, 1883. (No model.)

To all YLoh/m, t may concern:

Be it known that I, HEEcULEs McCoRD, of

Y St. Louis, Missouri, have made a new and useful Improvement in Banjos, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved banjo; Fig. 2, a back elevation of the banjo; Fig. 3, an edge elevation of the banjo-body, looking toward the tail-piece; Fig. 4, a section on the line 4 4, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a sectional view of the mechanism at the back of the banjo-body; Fig. 6, a side elevation of parts shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, an elevation of the inner nut used in the tightening device at the center of the back of the instrument; Fig. 8, an elevation of the outer nut of the tightening device; Fig. 9, a plan or outside view of the tightening device; Fig. 10, a detail, being a view looking toward the inner side of the back of the banjo-body, showing the mode of connecting the wires with the back of the banjo-body; Fig. 11, a section upon an enlarged scale on the line 11 11 of Fig. 4; Fig. 12, a section upon the line 12 12 of Fig. 4; Fig. 13,

a section on the line '13 13 of Fig. 15; Fig. 14, an elevation of the parts shown `in Fig. 13;

Fig. 15, a top view ofthe parts shown in Fig. 13; Fig. 1G, a section on the line 16 16 of Fig. 1; Fig. 17, a plan of the collar upon the back used to secure the neck of the banjo to the body; Fig. 18, an elevation of the tail-piece; Fig. 19, a section on the line 19 19 of Fig. 1; Fig. 20,'a section on the line 20 20 o f Fig. 18; Fig. 21, a section through the back part of the banjo-body, showing the upper arm; and Fig. 22, an elevation, partly in section, of the neckscroll.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

The present invention relates to the means for strengthening the neck-scroll; to the mode of connecting the straining-wires with the straining-hoop; to the means for preventing the neck of the banjo from swaying when the operator releases his hold upon the banjoneck; to the mode of connecting the strainingwires with the back part of the banjo-body; to the mode of fastening the straining-wires at the center of the back of the banjo-body;

22, in the scroll. The grain of the wood of the piece b', as indicated in Fig. 22, runs in a direction contrary to the grain of the main portion of the scroll b. Made in this way, the scroll is better able to withstand the strains incident to its use.

E E represent the wires used in straining the hoop D. These wires pass, as in constructions previously patented by me, from the straining-hoop over the back of the banjobody, and at the center of the body are connected with a tightening device, by means of which the series of wires can be simultaneously strained and the hoop brought into the desired position. The improvement, as stated, relates partly to the particular means employed for connecting these straining-rods with the straining-hoop.

E E represent what may be termed heads, 7 i

4to which the straining-wires E E are connected as follows; The head is perforated at e and .grooved at e', substantially as shown in Figs. 13, 14, 15. The wire E, having at its end an enlargement, e2, is passed through the perforation e, after which the wire is wrapped around the head in the groove c. This serves to unite the wire e and the head E. The straining-hoop D is provided with a series of projections, d d, having slots or perforations d d. The wire E is drawn through the slot or perforation d', and thence is carried in and along an indentation, a, Fig. 11, in the back a of the banjo-head, near its periphery. From the indentation a the wire passes intoa tubular guide, c2, Figs. 4, 12, and from the guide a it passes to the tightening device at the center ofthe back ofthe instrument. The guides a2 are conveniently formed out of the portions of the back which are struck up in forming the opening c3 in the back. The ends of the straining-wires are assembled at the center of IOO the back of the instrument, and are there connected with the tightening device F, which is constructed, mainly, of an inner nut, j', an outer nut, f', and a bolt, f. The ends of the wires are passed, respectively, through perforations j, Figs. 7, 5, in .the nut f. The perforations f are in a i'lange, f", of the nut j'. The nut f is also provided with the flange fr'. The outer nut, j", is provided with the flange j, and is .recessed at f7 to receive the flange f The nut j" is also extended, and threaded at f8, to adapt it tovbe screwed into the nutf. Then, by screwing the nutf into the nut j', the ends of the strainingwires are bound between the i'langefG of the outer nut and iiange f5 of the inner nut, and are also bound between the iiange f'i of the inner nut and the central portion of the nut j". In this manner the wires are secured between the nuts f f The boltf is adapted to be screwed into a bell-shaped construction, c, at the center ol the back of the instrument. The part c is fastened to and virtually made part ol' the back of the instrument. The wires are then tightened by screwing the bolt f2 into thepart c, which operation draws the nuts f f into the part c and tightens the heads c against the projections d of the straining-hoop D, substantially as shown in Fig. 3.

As it is desirable to be able to readily loosen the straining-wires when desired, the boltf'l is preferably so connected with the nuts ff as to cause the nuts, when the boltf2 is unscrewed, to be drawn out from the part c.A To this end the bolt is provided with a collar, '9, which is confined, but so that it can be rotated therein beneath a holdeigfm, which in turn is fastened to a washer, fu. This washer is nctched at j, Fig. 9, to pass the lug f, Fig. 5, in the nutf. After placing the washer in position, the washer is turned around to bring the notches out of coincidence with the lugs, as in Fig. 9. Then, when the boltfZ is withdrawn from the part c, the nuts f f follow the boltf, causing the wires E to be slipped backward through the guides cL and indentations v a., and the heads E, in consequence, to be looscned from their bearings el.

It is 'l'requently desirable, in using an instrument like a banjo, to release the hold on the neck of the instrument. At such times the instrument-neck is liable to sway and drop out of its proper position. To prevent this, the head ofthe banjo is provided with an arm, G, Figs. 2, 21. The arm is located near the edge ofthe banjo-head, substantially as shown in Fig. 2, and in use is pressed against the person ofthe operator.

II represents the tail-piece of the instrument. j It consists, in practice, of a U-shaped piece of wire bent substantially as shown in Figs. 1, 18, 19. Several advantages accrue from this inode of constructing a tail-piece. The strings of a banjo or other stringed instrument are liable to part in the immediate vicinity of the tail-piece as hitherto usually constructed and attached. In the present construction the bar 7;v of the tail-piece is perfo rated at if', Figs. 1S, 20. The string Lis passed through the perforation, and is then wrapped around the bar 11, as shown in Fig. 20. The strain on the string is then distributed upon an extended surface, and the string is thereby prevented frein breaking.

It will be noticed that the upper or bent part, It, of the tail-piece is bent slightly downward, as shown in Fig. 19. The eii'ect oi' this is to bring the ends ofthe strings closer to the yparchment I, the result of which is to draw the strings to better' advantage over the bridge J, and io produce greater pressure on the bridge, for, by reason ofthe inclination, as` described, of part h ofthe tail-piece, the strings are caused to incline upward to the bridge J.

It will be noticed that the tailpiece is rigidly attached to the banjo-body, so that it cannot be swayed laterally, and to this end the most convenient practice is to construct the tail-piece so as to have two points ol" bearing upon the banjo-head, as shown.

The tail-piece II is conveniently attached to the banjo-head by springing the ends It toward each other, and then passing them through the perforations tin the banjo-head, and then allowing the ends h h to open apart and catch against the edges surrounding the perforations if, substantially as indicated in Fig. 18. The neck B is attached to the body C, as shown in Fig. 16. The neck is pivoted at K to the banjo-head, and the end B of the neck is sccured to the body C by means of a screw-bolt, Z, which passes through the end B', and thence through a perforation in the banjo-body and into a nut, The nut Z is held, and so that it cannot be rotated, in a housing, b, that is attached to the inner side ot' the banjo-body. The nut bi is adapted to be moved laterally to a limited extent in the housing b". The object of this is as follows: Frequently in attaching the neck of a banjo to the banjo-body it is found that it needs to be turned to bring it to the proper angle with the body.

The provision described for the lateral adjustment of the nut b', provides for the desired adjustment with the banjo-neck, for it is only necessary to incline the neck to the desired angle and then t0 secure the neck by tightening the bolt b* in the nut b, which operation draws the end B toward the banjo-body. A leathern washer, bl, is interposed between the nut b5 and the shell of the banjo-body, and another washer, b5, may be inserted between the banjo-body and the end I3. The inner washer, bi, serves to lock the nut b5 in the desired place, and by means ofthe outer washer, 128, the end B can be set nearer to or farther from the back of the banjovhody', andthe outer end of the banjoaieck adjusted accordingly.

I claim- 1. The straining-hoop D, provided with the slotted projections d d and the slotted and perforated heads E FJ, in combination with the wires E and straining mechanism, substantially as described.

2. The body C, provided with the guides IOO IIO

a2 a2, formed as described, and the indentations a, in combination with the wires E and an internal stretching mechanism, substantially as described.

3. ln a banjo, the combination of the body C, having the part c, and the guides a2, With the Wires E, and the central tightening device for these Wires, substantially as described.

4. In a banjo, the combination, with the shell, of the Wires E, the nuts f f', and the bolt f2, said bolt being secured to the nut f', substantially as described.

5. The combination of the body C, the hoop D, having the slottedprojections d d, and the slotted and perforated heads E E', With the tightening device F, substantially as described.

6. The U-shaped tail-piece H, having an upper depressed portion, h2, and rigidly secured to the body C, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the U-shaped tailpiece H, having the upper part, h2, bent downf Ward, as described, and provided with diametrical perforations, substantially as specied, with the body G, the parchment I, and the bridge J, substantially as described. 2 5

8. The U-shaped tail-piece having a depressed upper portion and a cross-bar dianietrically perforated, as a new and improved article of manufacture.

9. The combination of the U shaped tailpiece H, having a perforated cross-bar, With the body C, having` the perforation h, substantially as described.

10. AA U shaped tail-piece having an upper portion provided With a rounded extended bearing for the strings, and rigidly connected with the banjo-body, substantially as described.

Vitness my hand this 30th day of April, 1883.

HERCULES MCCORD. Vitu esses:

C. D. MOODY, J. K. WORTHINGTON. 

